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Drew Stokesbary joins us to explain Washington’s budget trainwreck and why Democrats think rent control and wealth taxes are great ideas—spoiler: they’re not.
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Don’t Miss This Episode of the Shift WA Podcast!
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We’re fired up to have House Republican Leader Rep. Drew Stokesbary join us for a can’t-miss legislative preview! Drew spills the tea on how he got into politics, breaks down Washington’s budget mess (spoiler: it’s a doozy), and gives us a reality check on bad ideas like rent control and the wealth tax. Don’t worry—he also shares how Republicans are fighting to minimize the damage in Olympia. Plus, Drew wraps things up with some solid book recommendations to keep you thinking.
Tune in now on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts!
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Rent Caps Won’t Solve the Housing Crisis—But Democrats Keep Trying Anyway
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As Shift WA previously reported, WA Democrats are doubling down on bad ideas with House Bill 1217, which would cap rent and fee increases at 7% annually and prohibit increases during the first year of a lease. It also throws in more restrictions on security deposits and late fees, as if more regulations will magically create affordable housing. The bill gives enforcement power to the Attorney General under the Consumer Protection Act—because nothing screams “renter relief” like more government bureaucracy. Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, pointed out the obvious: discouraging landlords from staying in the market will shrink housing supply and make things worse.
Democrats, led by Rep. Emily Alvarado, D-West Seattle, insist this is a “modest” step to help renters suffering from high prices. But what’s modest about driving landlords out of business and stalling new housing development? Rent caps have failed everywhere they’ve been tried, leading to fewer rental units and deteriorating properties. Instead of meaningful solutions like cutting regulatory red tape and boosting construction, Democrats are once again pandering with policies that sound good on paper but worsen the crisis in practice. Read more at the Seattle Times.
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AG Nick Brown Chooses Grandstanding Over Law-and-Order
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Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has apparently taken a page from Bob Ferguson’s playbook, suing Trump over an executive order challenging birthright citizenship—a move Brown calls “plainly illegal.” It appears that, right from the start, Brown seems more interested in scoring political points than actually engaging with the legal nuances of the 14th Amendment. His press conference featured dramatic hand-wringing about children potentially being “citizens of no country at all,” conveniently ignoring that the order does not apply retroactively—no one would lose their existing citizenship.
This lawsuit is just one of many pre-planned attacks against Trump, as Brown gleefully admitted his office spent a year preparing for lawsuits that have little to do with Washington’s actual needs. Instead of tackling local crime or skyrocketing fentanyl deaths, Brown is focused on playing legal activist. If this is his idea of “protecting the people,” it’s no wonder public trust in his office is tanking. Read more at Center Square.
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Washington Democrats: Trump’s Inauguration Brings More Whining Than Winning
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For Washington’s Democratic delegation, Trump’s inauguration was less about honoring democracy and more about virtue-signaling. Patty Murray skipped the ceremony altogether, still pretending to clutch her pearls over January 6th. Pramila Jayapal and Rick Larsen joined the boycott brigade, substituting political theater for the ceremony, with Larsen proudly declaring “HELL NO” to attending. Meanwhile, Emily Randall issued a vague, melodramatic statement about “uncertain days ahead,” as if Trump’s presidency marks the apocalypse.
While Democrats pouted, Republicans like Dan Newhouse and Michael Baumgartner celebrated a GOP-controlled Congress and White House, ready to seize opportunities for Washington and the nation. Democrat Maria Gluesenkamp Perez did manage to show up, though her statement read like a desperate attempt to appease both sides while dodging accountability. The contrast couldn’t be starker: Republicans are ready to govern, while Washington’s Democrats are still stuck in their anti-Trump echo chamber. Read more at the Washington State Standard.
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Let Resistance Cringe! – UW Prof’s Anthem Hits All the Wrong Notes
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A retired UW statistics professor decided to fight Trump’s 2016 inauguration by writing a melodramatic “Resistance Anthem” that makes high school poetry look like Pulitzer material. Professor Michael Perlman, who apparently spent his twilight years crafting anti-Trump lyrics, emailed his masterpiece to a UW faculty listserv, which doubles as a hotbed of anti-conservative rants. The anthem is an overwrought ode to “lost liberty” and “sapped strength,” proving that some academics are more skilled in whining than teaching. As KTTH’s Jason Rantz points out, instead of offering anything constructive, Perlman’s work is yet another sad display of Trump Derangement Syndrome, wrapped in self-righteous virtue-signaling. If this is what “resistance” looks like, no wonder the radical left keeps losing the plot. Read more at KTTH.
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Shift Washington | PO Box 956 | Cle Elum, WA 98922 |
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